Mercedes-Benz takes the covers off the 2020 GLB 250 4MATIC

With no shortage of crossovers and SUVs for sale today in Canada, it's inevitable a few of them won't have the mouth to match their off-road trousers.Like a glib-tongued salesman making promises he can't keep, some all-wheel-drive rigs look like they're ready for adventure but promptly crack a nail (or chin spoiler) the instant the pavement ends. So, is the new GLB glib? Let's find out.It has the rough-and-ready appearance down pat, with a lantern jaw visage and the de rigeur

black cladding above the wheel arches which appear like kudzu on all vehicles in this segment.Its roofline aft of the C-pillar is similarly upright, flying in the face of all these so-called “crossover coupes.” Your author thinks this is a good thing. It'll maximize cargo room, too. To say it's a mini-G is a bridge too far, but at least it doesn't look like a used bar of soap.So it has the looks. What about power? The two-liter four-banger is said to haul this GLB 250 4MATIC to 100 km/h from rest in less than seven seconds, with that 4MATIC suffix denoting standard issue all-wheel-drive. In regular conditions, the system shoves 20 per cent of available power to the rear wheels, 30 per cent in Sport mode.Inside, the GLB is all-Mercedes, with a vast digital panel spanning most of the dashboard atop three centrally-positioned round air vents. That silver streak in front of the passenger isn't the same grab handle found in the G, but it sure looks like one. Other aluminum trim ratchet up the luxury-industrial feel.

This is a three-row rig, by the way, with Merc promising that passengers measuring 1.68 metres tall (about 5'5') should be able to fit comfortably. USB ports abound, including in the third row, along with the comfort and convenience options one tends to expect from the three-pointed star.With standard all-wheel drive and legions of amenities, the GLB isn't totally glib. As for us, we're hanging on to our chequebooks until the inevitable hot model arrives with more power. Think the company'll place its new 421-hp four bangerin this thing? No, neither do we—but stranger things have happened. They are stuffing that engine into an A-Class hatchback, after all.